On last day, Huppenthal targets ethnic-studies classes

In this file photo, protesters gather at the Tucson Unified School District's headquarters after the governing board voted to cancel the schools' ethnic-studies program in 2012.(Photo: David Sanders/Arizona Daily Star)

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On his last day, John Huppenthal targeted ethnic-studies classes in the Tucson school district

The outgoing superintendent threatened to cut state funding if the district doesn't provide more information on the curriculum.

Huppenthal said the courses on Mexican-American and African-American history violate a state law that prohibits classes that advocate 'ethnic solidarity.'

On his last day in office, John Huppenthal sent a letter to the Tucson Unified School District threatening to cut its state funding over ethnic-studies classes.

Huppenthal, the outgoing state superintendent of public instruction, on Friday sent a "notice of non-compliance" to the district, accusing it of violating a 2012 agreement over classes that cover Mexican-American heritage.

The order threatens to withhold 10 percent of Tucson's state funding if administrators don't comply with orders to provide more information on the history classes and to remove parts of the curriculum that Huppenthal says violate state law by March 4.

The issue dates back to 2011, when a state law went into effect prohibiting districts and charter schools from offering classes that promote overthrowing the U.S. government, promote resentment for a certain race or class of people, are geared for students of a particular ethnic background, or advocate ethnic solidarity instead of recognizing students as individuals. In 2013, a federal court upheld the law.

In 2012, Tucson dropped the courses under threat of losing state funding and agreed to submit a revised curriculum to the state Department of Education, which Huppenthal says has been insufficient.

Huppenthal's letter says: "Notably, while TUSD's original violations related to classes taught from the Mexican American perspective, it now appears that some TUSD classes taught from the African-American perspective also violate the law."

He said that Tucson's failure to comply "… reveals a program in disarray, with insufficient support for teachers, inadequate teaching to students and little transparency for parents and community members."

H.T. Sanchez, superintendent of the Tucson district, released a statement Friday afternoon saying that he asked to meet with Huppenthal, but "so far that hasn't happened."

Sanchez said that Tucson is bound by a federal desegregation order to offer the classes.

"The state of Arizona has repeatedly attempted to intervene in the districts active desegregation case for the stated purpose of controlling the district's implementation of federal court-mandated curriculum," the statement says.

"These courses were developed specifically under the court order. That order — the Unitary Status Plan — requires us to develop and implement culturally relevant courses taught from both the Mexican American and African American perspectives."

Sally Stewart, spokeswoman for the Department of Education, said Friday that department staff has made announced and unannounced visits to the classes in Tucson.

"We've worked with them for a considerable amount of time," she said. "They failed to respond fully to these requests for information and they have been late in getting some of the information.

The Tucson curriculum was originally targeted by Huppenthal's predecessor, Tom Horne, who issued a similar letter to the district his last day in office, in January 2011.

In his letter, Huppenthal cites several examples that he says violates the state law, including a writing prompt in which students are asked to discuss three ideas in the Declaration of Independence that are "lies, hypocrisy and break the social contract between new democracy and the society they are representing."

Huppenthal lost the Republican primary election to Diane Douglas, who went on to win the general election in November. She will take office on Monday.

Stewart said that the transition to Douglas has been smooth and that Huppenthal has kept her updated on all issues.

"She'll come in on Monday and keep the ball rolling," Stewart said.

Douglas' chief of staff, Michael Bradley, did not respond to a request for her to comment on Friday afternoon.

In his statement, Sanchez said: "During the election Ms. Douglas emphasized local control for curriculum decisions and we are eager to work with her as we continue to satisfy both state and federal law."